Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 490: Chapter 490. Keeping Up Appearance

Lao Zen and An Guan joined Prince Huang San before the gate. They heard what Prince Huang Zhan said.

An Guan said, ”Your Highness, Hao Yang’s battalion was ambushed by the rebels during a recent operation. Most of them were wiped out. This is a case of bad luck, not anyone’s fault.”

”Bad luck? Getting the whole force wiped out is not bad luck. It was either foul play or utter incompetency,” Huang Zhan uttered.

”They are not wiped out. Around two hundred returned from that operation,” An Guan argued.

”The two hundred who survived requested to be transferred into the First Demon Legion without informing me. Are you going to tell me this is not suspicious? From my point of view, you stole my soldiers and disposed of those unwilling.”

”Your Highness, this is slander. There is no way we did that,” Lao Zen said.

”Then give me a proper explanation! Call Amon out!! I want to hear it directly from him!” Huang Zhan exclaimed. His voice vibrated through the air. The soldiers standing on the wall felt like they were hit by something physical. They stepped back and covered their ears. The voice caused their ears to ring. Many cultivators still in the Human Realm found they suffered a nosebleed.

Huang San felt extremely uncomfortable due to his proximity to Huang Zhan. He only felt the pressure lessen after Lao Zen and An Guan put their hands on his shoulders.

”Prince Huang Zhan’s Lion Roar is indeed as formidable as rumored,” Lao Zen said while saluting Huang Zhan. ”However, I implore Your Highness to exercise restraint. We are all allies here. There is no need to use an art.”

It was General Da Niu who responded. He stomped a foot into the ground, which caused a small earthquake. ”If you consider us ally, bring out the one we demand!”

”General! Do not go overboard!” An Guan exclaimed. He could still take it if it was Prince Huang Zhan, but he couldn’t stand Da Niu talking down to them.

”Everyone, please calm down!” Huang San mediated. He then said to Huang Zhan, ”Brother, you have misunderstood. I assure you, Colonel Amon didn’t do what you accused him of. The rebels have indeed gotten bolder lately. We suffered a lot from their ambushes and lost a lot of soldiers, not just the ones from Hao Yang’s regiment. You can check the official reports we submitted to the Royal Barrack. The incident concerning the operation where Hao Yang’s regiment was ambushed was detailed in those reports.”

”I don’t want to read a bunch of lies written on papers. As I said, I want to hear an explanation directly from Amon. If you don’t bring him out, do not expect me to leave!” Huang Zhan insisted.

”It’s not that we don’t want to. We can’t call Amon out because he is not in this fort,” Huang San said.

”Hah! Try to hide the culprit? I don’t believe you! Let me search the fort to prove if he is truly not inside,” Huang Zhan said.

”Your Highness, you probably have rushed here from Fort Lion’s Den, so you might not have heard the recent news,” Lao Zen said.

”What recent news?” Huang Zhan asked.

”Colonel Amon was ambushed during his last operation. The rebels have captured him.”

Huang Zhan frowned after hearing that. He suddenly laughed, ”Hahaha! Who do you think I am? A three-year-old? If you want to make an excuse, find a better one!”

”Brother, he is telling the truth. We are just about to mobilize our army to attempt a rescue,” Huang San said.

Huang Zhan looked between Huang San, Lao Zen, and An Guan. He turned to Da Niu and commanded, ”Send some scouts to the capital to check this news.”

Da Niu bowed and walked back to the army to relay the command.

”Brother, you can see now how urgent our situation is,” Huang San said. ”I would love to host you, but the situation is not ideal. Please have your army stand aside and let ours pass so we can rescue Colonel Amon.”

”No,” Huang Zhan replied flatly.

”Brother...”

”If Amon allowed his troops to get ambushed so often and even let himself be captured, then he is worse than incompetent,” Huang Zhan uttered. ”Attempting to rescue such a failure of a man is a waste of time and resources. Let him rot. None of you may leave this fort until I get to the bottom of what happened to the regiment I lent you!”

*

Huang Zhan no longer bothered to listen to Huang San’s persuasion after sending his scouts to check the news about Amon being captured by the rebels. He returned to his army, and they started to set up tents. His army remained encircling Fort Fresh Maw, keeping an eye on the fort.

Huang San, Lao Zen, and An Guan were back on the fort’s wall. Xin Wuming joined them there.

”I doubt he truly cares about the regiments he lent us. He is disrupting us because he knows our deadline to deal with the rebels is coming to an end. Bastard!” An Guan cursed.

”Watch it. He is still a prince,” Lao Zen warned.

Huang San sighed. ”I thought the ones who would obstruct us were my fourth brother or second sister. It turns out the one I thought willing to help us is the one who causes us trouble.”

”Are they going to just stand there and prevent us from leaving?” Xin Wuming asked.

”It seems that way,” Lao Zen replied.

Xin Wuming grinned. ”Well, then. Luckily, we already have a way to deal with such a problem.”

The others also smiled. Lao Zen said, ”Yes, but using that secret tunnel takes time for our large force. We need to maintain the façade here for as long as possible. We can’t let him know our intention until we are away.”

”What about the battle puppets?” Huang San asked.

”Brother Amon has already managed most of the battle puppets,” Xin Wuming answered. ”He took ten thousand with him. The other ten thousand are stored in secret warehouses all over the country. The ones still here are the remaining ten thousand.”

”Okay, start moving them out via the secret tunnel,” Huang San said. ”Move the battle puppets and our most trusted personnel first. After you are out, divide them into small teams, pick up the remaining battle puppets stored in the secret warehouses, and head toward the targets marked on this map.”

Huang San gave him the map he had prepared earlier. The marks were based on Zong Hua’s intel. He also added notes so the team leader holding the map knew what they were supposed to do.

”Give every team leader a message talisman. They should take positions and strike once they receive the signal from the message talisman.”

Lao Zen, An Guan, and Xin Wuming took the maps and notes. ”What about Your Highness?” Lao Zen asked.

”I will be the last to leave,” Huang San answered. I need to keep up my appearance so my brother doesn’t get suspicious. I will leave with the rest of the troops.”

Lao Zen nodded. He said, ”Stay safe, Your Highness.” He then turned to Xu Bao, who was beside Huang San, and said, ”Protect His Highness.”

”Don’t worry. Good luck to you,” Xu Bao replied.

*

Lao Zen, An Guan, and Xin Wuming first organized the completed battle puppets under the basement to exit via the secret tunnel. They exited a cave six miles South of the fort. The battle puppets went into standby while the three returned to lead the troops through the same tunnel.

This process took several days.

During those days, Huang San visited Huang Zhan daily. He entered Huang Zhan’s tent and pretended to persuade Huang Zhan to let their troops leave. Huang Zhan denied his request.

Huang Zhan lied and said he was still waiting for his people to check the news about Amon being captured. He had already received the confirmation one day after he came to Fort Fresh Maw. He was now simply biding his time. He could see how Huang San was desperate to mobilize the troops inside Fort Fresh Maw. The more eager Huang San was, the more determined he was to keep the troops here.

Huang Zhan told Huang San that if he was not happy, he could ask the palace to intervene. Huang Zhan, of course, didn’t even allow Huang San to send a messenger. He warned Huang San that anyone who tried to break through their encirclement would be treated as enemy combatants and dealt with accordingly.

In reality, even if Huang San managed to send a message to the palace, Huang Zhan doubted it would change the situation here. Most officials inside the palace were Huang Zi and Huang Er’s lackeys. Unless Huang San managed to contact the king or the prime minister directly, his message would not receive a response.

On the fourth day, Huang San stopped visiting. Huang Zhan didn’t think much about it. Only after another two days of Huang San’s absence did he become suspicious.

He came out and looked at the fort. He saw some soldiers patrolling the wall up there. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The sound of soldiers drilling was heard from inside the fort, except... they sounded less loud.

Spurred by the uneasiness in his heart, he flew into the air. Seeing the fort from the air, he knew then something was wrong. Inside the fort were only a few soldiers who made noises to produce as much sound as possible. Aside from them, the fort was mostly empty.